alaninbelfast

More of this type of debate is welcomed and required. There needs to be an understanding that ‘Protestantism’ has roots in protest not conservative conformity. I grew up in Ulster in the sixties and seventies later relocating to London and am shocked to see how polarised politics have recently become. During the troubles there were more choices at the ballot box and this current hardening of attitudes leads to cheap characterisations on both sides. The fight against bigoted bowler hat wearing Paisleyites as the common currency of how Ulster Protestants are portrayed has been ongoing since I left ‘Home’. The view of how Protestants are perceived is always judged against how Nationalists have successfully gained a world audience as the victims of a colonial past. I believe this feeling of being ‘hard done by’ helps create further division and the frustration gives a voice to extremism. Sinn Fein and the DUP both feed off each other in this stalemate. How artists, poets and playwrights can counter blatant propaganda, particularly from a Protestant perspective is not an easy one. I offer Victor Sloan as a leading example of what is possible. R.Watters